Taking cue from the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced that legislators in the state would face a 30 per cent salary cut.

Taking cue from the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced that the legislators in the state would face a 30 per cent salary cut owing to the COVID-19 crisis. Earlier, the Central government decided to slash salaries of Members of Parliament and Union Cabinet Ministers by 30% for one year amid the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Currently, there are over 163 positive cases of the novel Coronavirus in the state. This includes 4 deaths and 18 discharges.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Government indicated on Tuesday that while it's too early to take a call now on lifting the nation-wide lockdown, it stands in favour of its extension in COVID-19 hotspots in the country by at least an additional two weeks.

Centre cuts MPs' salary by 30%

On Tuesday, President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated 'The Salaries, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020'. This was approved by the Union Cabinet on April 6. According to the ordinance, it was necessary to raise resources for the fight against the novel coronavirus. For this purpose, a new sub-section has been inserted in Section 3 of 'The Salaries, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954' to reduce the salaries payable to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs by 30%. This will be applicable for a period of one year from April 1, 2020. Moreover, the Modi Cabinet approved temporary suspension of MPLAD Fund of MPs during 2020-21 and 2021-22 for managing health and the adverse impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 in India.